The Ghosts Come Out

The Window Woman

My cousin had recently moved into a new house when Dad died in a car accident. I didn't have a mum or grandparents, and my Aunt and Uncle lived in Spain. My cousin Jennifer was the only relative I had left to take care of me. We'd only met twice before when I was very little, but when I moved in, she was really nice and acted as if we'd known each other for years. Jennifer's house was nice, it was quite big, and the room I was staying in had a window that looked out onto the forest behind the house. You could also see the house that was in the forest, and it was quite easy to look into one of the windows and see inside. It was very dark, I noticed, and the lights were never on. The curtains were old and greyed, but you could see there was once a floral pattern on them, and the bedroom, that was the easiest to see into, had a large chandelier dangling from the ceiling.  There was nothing else in the bedroom, except for a large bed. 

I never thought to ask Jennifer about the house, because, well, it seemed like just a house. Oh, god, how wrong I was. It was the summer holidays when I moved in, so I didn't have to worry about school for ages. I did, however, worry about the other kids in the small town where I then lived. Jennifer encouraged me to go outside almost every day, no matter how hard I protested. She tried so hard to make things normal, but it didn't work. I always ended up at the park or the forest, but strangely enough, I could never find the house. Whenever I was at the park, a group of kids about my age were there to torment me. They never actually spoke to me, except for of course when they called me names, but every time it was the same. The, "Look who it is!" and the slow saunter up to me, then the pushing, then the shoving, then the harsh words and the beating up. I never understood why they did it. Maybe I was an easy target. New girl in town, looks depressed and strange as anything. Definitely an easy target.

One time I came back from the forest, and I looked out my window at the house. It's always a strange feeling, looking back at somewhere you've just been from a distance. It's almost like you're still there. Anyways, this time, the light in the bedroom was on. I took a closer look. The walls were stained and the paint was peeling. I couldn't see the floor, but I could imagine the amount of litter and dust on it. The chandelier was broken, but somehow still projected light, and the bed was dirty, messy, and torn to shreds. I gasped. How could someone live like that? That was if anyone lived there at all... I got my answer straight away. 

The door opened.

A woman appeared, her face covered. She went to the window, and stared right at me. Her eyes were the coldest thing I had ever seen. We stared at each other for hours, until Jennifer came in my room. "What you doing?" she asked. I tore my gaze from the Window Woman, and looked straight at my cousin. I asked her who the house belonged to. She asked me, "What house?" I replied, "The one in the forest." Jennifer looked at me with an unreadable expression. She drew her breath. "There is no house in the forest."